Scuderia Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel set the fastest time for Ferrari on the second day of testing to ensure he ended his running at the Circuito de Jerez at the head of the pack.
Vettel, who topped the times on Sunday, posted a lap of 1:20.984 in the Ferrari SF15-T during a sequence of rapid laps in the morning.
No-one else was able to beat the German’s time, with a late rain shower ensuring that he remained the quickest driver. The quadruple world champion will hand over duties to team-mate Kimi Raikkonen for the final two days.
Vettel ended 0.883s clear of Sauber rookie Felipe Nasr, who enjoyed a relatively trouble-free day as the Swiss team again placed second, while former team-mate, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, was third in the FW37.
World Champion Lewis Hamilton racked up the miles during the morning and completed 91 laps before his Mercedes developed a water leak after a failure on the W06 Hybrid.
The Briton was able to return to the pits but Mercedes’ could not repair the problem, bringing his running to an early end, albeit having already accrued substantial mileage.
Toro Rosso rookie Max Verstappen spent the day focusing on long runs and placed fifth, ahead of Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado, who put the first miles on the E23 Hybrid after it missed Sunday’s action.
Maldonado took the car out on track for an installation during the morning and emerged for longer runs later on in the day. Maldonado brought out a red flag with 90 minutes remaining when his car stopped in the final sector due to a drive train issue; marshals were able to push it into the pit lane.
McLaren endured another challenging day with its new Honda-powered MP4-30. Jenson Button completed only five laps in the morning though he recorded a time to ensure he placed seventh, albeit half a minute off the pace.
He then spent much of the day in the garage but was able to return to the track with 20 minutes remaining for an exploratory lap.
Red Bull’s day was compromised after new signing Daniil Kvyat made a mistake during the early stages of running.
Kvyat, testing for the team for the first time, damaged the front wing of the RB11 and Red Bull did not have any spares, forcing the Russian to undertake limited running without a front wing for the remainder of the day.
Results:
| Position | Number | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | 1:20.984 | 88 |
| 2 | 12 | Felipe Nasr | Sauber | 1:21.867 | 87 |
| 3 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams | 1:22.319 | 61 |
| 4 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:22.490 | 91 |
| 5 | 33 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:24.167 | 73 |
| 6 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus | 1:25.802 | 41 |
| 7 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:54.655 | 6 |
| 8 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull | No Time Set | 18 |
